Nonrefillable liquid-dispensing can



March 27, 1934. G a L R 1,952,558

NONREFILLABLE LIQUID DISPENSING CAN Filed July 50, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR March 27, 1934. e. s. MILLER NONREFILLABLE LIQUID DISPENSINGCAN 2 Shets-Sheet 2 Filed July 30, 1952 ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 27, 1934ETE ill STATES PATENT OFFICE 5 Claims.

This invention relates to containers for lubricating oils, liquid fuelsand the like, and more particularly refers to improvements in dispensingcans of the type from which, each time the can is tilted, only a limitedamount of liquid can be poured.

It is often desirable to pour liquids from cans in predeterminedquantities and as a rule this is done by pouring the liquid in ameasuring container and then by pouring the contents of the measuringcontainer in the place where the liquid is to be used. This is the case,for instance, when a certain quantity of oil is added to the body ofgasoline in the gasoline tank of a motor car, a quantity of two ouncesmore or less, being added for each five gallons of gasoline.

Under these conditions, it becomes desirable to simplify, as much aspossible, the measuring operation so as to decrease the time required byit and prevent the possibility of spilling part of the liquid being usedthrough overflow or otherwise.

I have, therefore, devised a dispensing can, adapted to pour only acertain predetermined amount -of liquid each time the can be titled to apouring position.

The primary object of this invention is, accordingly, to provide adispensing can of a novel and improved construction, whereby a portionof the liquid contained in the can is automatically isolated from themajor part of the body thereof each time the can is set in a verticalposition, only said isolated portion being poured out of the can whenthe can is titled.

Another object is to provide a can of the character specified, soconstructed that its interior will constitute an air trap preventing therefilling of the can after its contents have been used, thisconstituting an effective protection against the possibility oftrade-mark or superior products being replaced by inferior productsthrough unscrupulous competition.

A further object is to provide a dispensing can of the characterspecified, the construction of which is such as to permit of producingthe can by standard methods at relatively low cost.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will more fullyappear as the description proceeds and will be set forth and claimed inthe apppended claims.

My invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section of my improved can in its filled condition;and

Fig. 2 is a similar section showing the isolated portion of the liquidcontained in the can being poured therefrom. 7

Referring to Fig. 1, 10 designates the body of the can, provided withthe top 11 and the bottom 12, the top being provided with a threadedspout l3 closed by a threaded cap 14, in the usual manner.

The interior of the can is divided into a main upper chamber and afractional lower chamber 16, having a predetermined capacity, by ahorizontal partition 17, said two chambers communicating with each otherby means of a passage 18, provided at the very end of said partitionadjacent the side of the can opposite to the side adjacent the spout 13,if the can has a square or rectangu lar shape, said opening 18 beingdiametrically opposite to the axis of spout 13, if the can is circularin shape.

Spout 13 communicates with the lower chamber 16 by means of dischargetube 19, the upper end of said tube being soldered or otherwise securedto the top 11 of the can, as shown at 20, so as to form a hermetic jointtherewith.

For convenience of manufacture, partition 1'7 may be made integral witha skirt portion 21, depending therefrom, fitting the inside of the bodyof the can, the lower edge of said skirt portion, being originallybent'outwardly so that when the bottom 12 is placed against said loweredge of said skirt, which in its turn rests against the outwardlyextending flange formed by the lower end of the body of the can, thethree abutting peripheral flanges thus resulting can be bent together toform a triple double-seamed joint, as shown at 22, by means ofdouble-seaming operations performed in the customary manner.

The top of the can is originally provided with an opening 23, and whenthe can is filled through spout 13, cap 14 being removed, said openingacts as an air vent, permitting the escape of the air from the inside ofthe can. After filling, said opening is permanently sealed by placing adisk 24 over it, and soldering said disk onto the top. of the can.

When the can is tilted to the pouring position, shown in Fig. 2, onlythat part of the liquid which is contained in chamber 16 and in outlettube 19 will be discharged from the can, because the body of liquidcontained in chamber 15 will be prevented by partition 1'7 from reachingchamber-16 through opening 18.

It will be understood that in order to pour the liquid. with relativeease, discharge tube 19 is made of a fairly large diameter, so thatthrough it air can enter chamber 16 being poured.

Before another approximately equal quantity of liquid can again bepoured from the can, it is necessary to replace the can in a verticalposition, in order to give the air contained in chamber 16 a chance toescape into chamber 15 through opening 18 and to be replaced by a newliquid charge.

It is thus seen that except for the relatively small diiferences in thequantities of liquid successively poured from the can, due to thegradually decreasing level of said liquid within the discharge tube,said quantities will be approximately equal to one another.

A can constructed in accordance with my invention has in every way theappearance of a can such as ordinarily used for lubricating oils andliquid fuels, and is operated in exactly the same manner.

An important feature of my invention is that except for passage 18,causing it to communicate with chamber 16, chamber 15 is permanentlyhermetically sealed and cannot be reached except by piercing the top orone of its sides.

Once part or all of the liquid contained in the can has been poured, itbecomes, therefore, impossible to replace it while the can is held inits normal upright or filling position, because chamber 15 forms an airtrap positively preventing liquid being poured into the can beyond acertain height, that is beyond the point where the pressure acquired bythe air imprisoned within chamber 15 equals the pressure exerted by theliquid in tube 19. However, even if by some manipulation an attempt tofill the can should be made while the can is held in any other thanupright position, it would be impossible to entirely fill both chamber15 and chamber 16.

This feature is especially important when it is necessary to protect theuser against the possibility of substitution of inferior goods and themaker against unscrupulous competition by the use of his trademark.

The constructional details of my invention may vary from those shownwithout departure from the inventive idea; the drawings, therefore,should be understood as being intended for illustrative purposes onlyand not in a limiting sense.

I, accordingly, reserve the right to carry my invention into practice inall those ways and manners which may enter, fairly, into the scope ofthe appended claims.

I claim:

1. A liquid dispensing container, having a chamber d vided into astorage compartment and a dispensing compartment, said compartmentscommunicating with each other at a point adjacent the side of container,and a discharge passage lead ng from the end of said dispensingcompartment opposite the end thereof communicating with the storagecompartment, to the top of the container, said storage compartment b ingotherwise hermetically sealed ina permanent manner, thereby forming anair trap preventing the possibility of the conta ner being refilledthrough said discharge outlet and dispensing compartment, when saidcontainer is held in its normal upright position.

2. A liquid dispensing can having a chamber divided into a storagecompartment and a dispensing compartment, said compartmentscommunicating with each other at a point adjacent the side of the can, adischarge passage leading from the end of said dispensing compartmentopwhile the liquid is posite the end thereof communicating with thestorage chamber, to the top of the can, said can having an opening atthe top permitting of said can being filled with liquid, and a discsoldered over said opening after the filling of the can, hermeticallyclosing said opening, thereby causing said storage compartment to forman air trap preventing the possibility of the container being refilledthrough said discharge passage and dispensing compartment, when saidcontainer is held in its normal upright position.

3. A liquid dispensing can comprising a body having a hermeticallysealed top, an inverted cup member inserted within the lower part ofsaid body, the top of said cup member forming a transversal partitionseparating the interior of said body into an upper storage compartmentand a lower dispensing compartment, an opening through said partitionadjacent the side of the can, a discharge passage leading from the endof said dispensing compartment opposite the end thereof communicatingwith the storage compartment, to the top of the can, a removable closurefor said passage, and a bottom for said can and inverted cup member, thelower edge of said body, the lower edge of said cup member,

and the edge of said bottom all being sealed together into a singlehermetic joint.

4. A liquid dispensing can comprising a body having a hermeticallysealed top, an inverted cup member inserted within the lower part ofsaid body, the top of said cup member forming a transversal partitionseparating the interior of said body into an upper storage compartmentand a lower dispensing compartment, an opening through said partitionadjacent the side of the can, a discharge passage leading from the endof said dispensing compartment opposite the end thereof communicatingwith the storage compartment, to the top of the can, a removable closurefor said passage, and a bottom for said can and inverted cup member, thelower edge of said body, the lower edge of said cup member, and the edgeof said bottom being originaL ly formed with outwardly extending flangessuperposed on one another, said flanges being folded together to form atriple double-seamed joint for the bottom of the can.

5. A liquid dispensing can comprising a top hermetically joinedtherewith, an inverted cup member inserted within the lower part of saidbody, the top of said cup member forming a transversal partitionseparating the interior of said body into an upper storage compartmentand a lower dispensing compartment, an opening through said partitionadjacent the side of the can, a discharge passage leading from the endof said dispensing compartment opposite the end thereof communicatingwith the storage compartment, to the top of the can, a removable closurefor said passage, a bottom for said can and inverted cup member, thelower edge of said body, the lower edge of said cup member, and the edgeof said bottom all being sealed together into a single hermetic joint,an opening through said top, permitting of said can being filled withliquid, and non-removable means for permanently hermetically sealingsaid opening after filling of the can, thereby causing said storagecompartment to form an air trap preventing refilling of the can throughsaid discharge passage and dispensing compartment.

GUY S. MILLER.

